Epoxide functional groups may be found in drugs, xenobiotic materials, and endogenous biomolecules. Epoxide hydrolases, found in both plants and animals, are enzymes that convert epoxides to diols by hydrolysis. In mammals, soluble epoxide hydrolase (“sEH”) is primarily responsible for the metabolism of arachidonic acid derivatives known as epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (“EETs”). sEH converts EETs into dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (“DHETs”). Several publications have described the beneficial vasodilatory, anti-inflamatory, and anti-thrombotic effects of EETs. See E.g. Spector et al., Prog. Lipid Res., 43, 55-90, 2004; Imig, Cardiovasc. Drug Rev., 24, 169-188, 2006. DHETs are generally inactive and thus do not exhibit the beneficial effects of EETs.
Conversely, microsomal epoxide hydrolase (“mEH”) catalyzes the hydrolysis of a broad range of epoxide substrates including carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and reactive epoxides, thus it provides an important detoxification pathway. Polymorphisms in mEH may lead to differences in bioactivation of pro-carcinogens and several human epidemiological studies suggest that mEH genotype is associated with altered cancer risk. Fretland & Omiecinski, Chemico-Biol. Int., 129, 41-59, 2000.
Pharmacological, knockout mouse phenotype and genetic polymorphism studies suggest that elevated EET levels are protective in numerous cardiovascular disorders including hypertension [Sinal et al., J. Biol. Chem., 275, 40504-40510, 2000; Imig et al., Hypertension, 39, 690-694, 2002; Jung et al., Hypertension, 45, 759-765, 2005; Loch et al., Cell Biochem Biophys., 47, 87-98, 2007], heart failure [Xu et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 103, 18733-18738, 2006], renal dysfunction/end organ damage [Zhao et al., J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., 15; 1244-1253, 2004; Imig et al., Hypertension, 46; 975-981, 2005], stroke [Dorrance et al., J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol., 46; 842-848, 2005; Formage et al., Hum. Mol. Genet., 14; 2829-2837, 2005; Koerner et al., J. Neurosci., 27; 4642-4649, 2007], atherosclerosis and thrombosis [Sato et al., J. Hum. Genet., 49; 29-34, 2004; Lee et al., Hum Mol Genet., 15; 1640-1649, 2006; Wei et al., Atherosclerosis, 190; 26-34, 2007; Krotz et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 24; 595-600, 2004] and inflammation [Inceoglu et al., Life Sci., 79; 2311-2319, 2006].
One approach to the treatment of such conditions designed to take advantage of the beneficial effect of EETs has been to inhibit the action of sEH thereby preventing EET degradation. In light of the role sEH plays in the degradation of EETs, it is desirable to prepare compounds that inhibit its activity. Thus, there is a need to identify compounds that inhibit sEH, which can be used in the treatment of a variety of conditions mediated by the sEH enzyme.